Col. Sanders Gives Hope to Baseball Fans

(NEWSER) - The recent recovery of a statue of KFC’s Col. Sanders from a Japanese river is said to have ended a curse on a baseball team there. Which gave the company a clever idea: offer the effigy to the notably hexed Chicago Cubs, Deadspin reports. PETA strenuously objects. “If one irritated goat could cause a decades-long curse, just imagine what billions of angry chickens could do,” the animal-rights organization writes. More»

Chain to open hundreds of restaurants in a dozen countries

(NEWSER) - Kentucky Fried Chicken wants to take over Africa. Like McDonald's and other fast-food giants, KFC parent company Yum Brands has been countering the slowdown in American spending with expansion overseas. Having populated China with KFC outlets, Yum now plans to double the number of stores in Africa to 1,200, the Wall Street Journal reports. KFC has had an outlet in South Africa since 1971, but Yum plans to open them, and sister restaurants, in Nigeria, Namibia, Mozambique, Ghana, Zambia, and elsewhere. More»

Reviewers not so fond of latest fast-food monstrosity

(NEWSER) - Congratulations, KFC, your Double Down stunt has gotten more publicity than a Nazi-themed romp with Jesse James. So here's a little more, in the form of what the reviewers are saying:

• The Double Down "arrives at a new low," writes Sam Sifton of the New York Times . Even the chain's signature chicken is "a slimy and unnaturally moist thing, with flavor ginned up in a lab. It is, in all, a disgusting meal, a must-to-avoid."

Franchise owners want to keep focus on Original Recipe products

(NEWSER) - It's not called Kentucky Grilled Chicken, and a group of KFC franchise owners would like to keep it that way: Determined to keep "fried" the focus, they've sued the company for promoting grilled over traditional options. KFC "appears to believe that the future lies with grilled chicken rather than fried Original Recipe or Extra Crispy chicken products," say the franchisees in a suit filed this week over who controls KFC's advertising, reports the Washington Post . More»

Impersonator dupes security in publicity stunt

(NEWSER) - A Colonel Sanders lookalike got a diplomat’s welcome at the United Nations, somehow tricking the security guards into letting him in, UN officials sheepishly admitted. Once inside, the KFC mascot met with UN General Assembly President Ali Treki of Libya, even getting his picture snapped shaking hands beneath the assembly’s giant logo. “I wouldn’t call that a meeting,” objected a Treki spokesman. “No appointment (was) scheduled with the actor impersonating Colonel Sanders.” More»